Cubs All-Star starter Travis Wood (9-12) was only scheduled to pitch one inning in an effort to save his arm while at least allowing him to reach the 200-inning milestone.

That inning did not go as planned, as the Cardinals pushed across three runs while batting around with four hits and two walks. Molina doubled in a pair, then scored on Jon Jay's base hit to center.

In the third, Freese took Brooks Raley into the bullpen beyond the wall in right-center, and two more runs in the fourth -- via Dioner Navarro's throwing error and Molina's groundout -- gave St. Louis a 6-0 cushion.

Holliday launched his 21st home run of the year in the sixth off Blake Parker, and the Cardinals' bullpen kept Chicago off the board over the final three innings.

Trevor Rosenthal was on the hill for the final out, retiring Darwin Barney on a groundout to start the celebration.

This is the Cardinals' 24th division title in franchise history ... St.
Louis's 52 home wins matched its record for the current Busch Stadium, set in
2010 ... Lynn also eclipsed the 200-inning plateau this year ... Wood's
ERA rose to 3.11. He was trying to become the second Cubs left-hander in the
last 50 years to turn in a sub-3.00 ERA with at least 200 innings pitched ...
Cardinals second baseman Matt Carpenter is one hit away from 200 this year.